Harnessing the fear animals have of humans has the potential to aid in the conservation of wildlife. Most vertebrates perceive humans as “super predators.” While predator cues are an important nonlethal management tool, the use of human cues for management has rarely been implemented or experimentally tested. Extensive poaching is threatening the persistence of white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum), and there is a need to deter them from areas with elevated poaching risks. To investigate the feasibility of harnessing the fear white rhinos have of humans to aid in their conservation, we conducted playback experiments at rhino middens. We broadcasted repeated human (treatment) and bird (control) vocalizations, and measured changes in visitations and antipredator responses. We found that overall rhino visitations did not change in response to controls but decreased by 46% in response to human vocalizations. This pattern appears to be driven by the response of females, who decreased their visitations by 70% in response to human vocalizations, while visitations by males remained unchanged. This difference is likely related to males defending small exclusive territories. Providing evidence that changes in female visitation rates were a function of the perceived fear of white rhinos, we found that both sexes exhibited more vigilance in response to human vocalizations (males 69.5%, females 96%) compared to controls. We also saw a 63% reduction of other herbivores at treatment sites. Our findings provide evidence that the fear of humans can be used to alter the movements and behavior of female white rhinos, critical for population recovery, as well as other large herbivores.

中文翻译：

---

白犀牛和其他食草动物减少了访问并提高了对人类发声的警惕性

利用动物对人类的恐惧有可能有助于保护野生动物。大多数脊椎动物将人类视为“超级捕食者”。虽然捕食者线索是一种重要的非致命管理工具，但很少实施或实验测试使用人类线索进行管理。广泛的偷猎威胁着白犀牛（Ceratotherium simum simum）的生存，有必要阻止它们离开偷猎风险较高的地区。为了研究利用人类对白犀牛的恐惧来帮助保护它们的可行性，我们在犀牛群中进行了回放实验。我们播放重复的人类（治疗）和鸟类（对照）发声，并测量访问和反捕食者反应的变化。我们发现，犀牛的总体访问量并未因对照而改变，但因人类发声而减少了 46%。这种模式似乎是由女性的反应驱动的，女性对人类发声的回应减少了 70% 的访问量，而男性的访问量保持不变。这种差异可能与男性保卫小的专属领土有关。提供证据表明女性访问率的变化是对白犀牛的感知恐惧的函数，我们发现与对照组相比，两性对人类发声的反应都表现出更高的警惕性（男性 69.5%，女性 96%）。我们还看到治疗部位的其他食草动物减少了 63%。我们的研究结果提供了证据，表明对人类的恐惧可以用来改变雌性白犀牛的运动和行为，